1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a record and playback apparatus, a program, and record medium, and more particularly relates to a record and playback apparatus for recording and playing back an image by using a storage medium capable of random accessing, a program therefor, and a record medium therefor.
2. Prior Art of the Invention
Conventionally, a videotape is widely used as media for recording/playing back images of TV broadcasts and the like. However, due to the inherent structure of the videotape, the videotape cannot simultaneously perform record and playback, and also cannot instantaneously play back an intended record-completed image (broadcast).
Recently, in place of the above-mentioned videotape, recording media such as a hard disk (HD) and a DVD (digital versatile disc) that can be randomly accessed are used as media utilizing for record/playback of images of TV broadcasts and the like.
By utilizing the above-mentioned recording media capable of random accessing, various functions that cannot be implemented with the conventional videotape are added to a record and playback apparatus, which records and plays back images of TV broadcasts and the like.
An example of the above-mentioned functions includes a time slip playback function. The time slip playback function is a function capable of performing playback of a in-recording image while performing record that cannot be achieved with the conventional record and playback apparatus, and capable of performing playback of another record-completed image while performing record.
In the time slip playback function, in a case of performing playback of a record-completed image during recording an image, and user performs, for example, the following operation. That is, the record-completed image to be played back and the in-recording image are displayed together in alignment on a TV screen, the image (record-completed image) to be played back is forwarded (corresponding to a fast forward operation performed with the conventional videotape) and/or reversed (corresponding a rewind operation performed with the conventional videotape) to determine a desired playback position, and then the record-completed image is displayed at the playback position by using a central portion of the TV screen.
In a case of viewing an already recorded portion of a in-recording image, the user displays the top of the record-completed image and the in-recording image together in alignment on a TV screen and selects the top of the image, thereby displaying the record-completed image at a central portion of the TV screen.
The above are representative functions added for the utilization of the storage medium capable of random accessing and an operation method corresponding to the additional functions.
While no countermeasure can be taken due to the inherent property of the videotape, with the conventional videotape, the display of image information recorded in the videotape has been insufficient.
For this reason, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3107063 discloses a technique of displaying image information recorded in the storage medium capable of random accessing, for example.
According to the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication No. 3107063, scheduled record time for a in-recording image and completed record time are displayed in an overlapped state, and a pointer indicating the playback position is displayed on the displayed portion. This enables a user to recognize the scheduled record time, the record-completed time, and the playback position.
As described above, since the storage medium has become capable of meeting various functional requirements, various new functions are added to the record and playback apparatus. With the advent of many complicated functions added, a user is compelled to learn complicated operations to use the functions. For example, as described above, to shift between an in-recording image and a record-completed image, the record-completed image and the in-recording image need to be displayed together in alignment, and a desired image needs to be selected from the displayed images. As a matter of course, in a case of selecting a playback-desired image from a plurality of record-completed images, the plurality of record-completed images need to be displayed. In addition, even after a record-completed image has been selected, complicated forward/reverse operations need to be carried out, when the user want to playback from a halfway portion thereof. As such, there occur demands for the development of an interface that enables a user to sufficiently use the above-mentioned functions and that does not require the user to learn how to use the above-mentioned complicated operations. That is, the development of an interface having a user-friendly operability is demanded.
In addition, with the conventional videotape, since the recordable time is relatively short, the videotape needs to be replaced; that is, a user judges the difference of the images according to the kind of videotapes. However, with the advent of a mass-capacity storage medium, the replacement of the medium is not required, many images can be recorded in one storage medium. As such, management for the images is needed with in one storage medium.
In the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication No. 3107063, while a user can easily recognize the scheduled recording time, the completed record time, and the playback position, the user cannot recognize information related to a plurality of images recorded in one storage medium. Specifically, the disclosed technique exhibits problems in easily and firmly recognizing, for example, the information related to the type and number of images recorded in the storage medium, the information related to the remaining recordable time, and the information related to the recording capacity used by the type of image for the storage medium. In addition, while only the display function for information related to an image is provided, management function for the image is not disclosed at all in the above-mentioned publication.
In particular, in recent years, the recordable capacity of the hard disk, DVD or the like has increased rapidly, resulting in that the image-recordable time thereof significantly exceeds that of the above-mentioned videotape; and the recordable time can be expected to further increase in the future. As such, early provision is demanded for a technique of managing individual record-completed images in one storage medium.